The Union
by dagmarvdh
Summary: The story picks up after Jack spend the night at Avery in Paris, but instead of Monsieur Dauphin walking in, it's someone else.


We both jumped up. The door opened a few inches, then got stuck on the chair I'd wedged under the knob. Jack bolted for the window, grabbing the incriminating tuxedo jacket on the way. Someone kicked the door open, shattering the little gold chair into pieces.  
Alistair Saxon strolled in. He nodded at Jack, halfway out the window, and a dozen guards streamed into the room, their guns trained on him. Jack stopped still and raised his hands above his head, jacket dangling from his fingers. The guards surrounded him and wrenched him back inside.

How did they know? They cuffed Jack's hands behind his back. I was going to throw up.  
A guard pressed a gun to Jack's side. "This isn't what it looks like," I pleaded, even though it was obviously exactly what it looked like. "He was helping me, um…"  
"I couldn't care less what he was doing with you. He won't live long enough to do it again," said Alistair.  
"NO!" I screamed while the guards took Jack away. "Please, don't hurt him! He didn't do anything wrong!" I begged.

"According to Elodie he did everything wrong. Jack knew the consequences and now he has to face them," Alistair reacted.  
"It was all me! I was just scared after overhearing a conversation between Stellan and Miss Dauphin. He was just comforting me."  
"I hear nothing but excuses. It doesn't cover the fact that you two were seen kissing each other. And what did they say to scare you?" Alistair asked.  
"They made plans to lock me up so they could keep me in their family. They wanted to marry me off to Luc," I explained.  
"And why would they want that?"  
"I'm only telling you if you release Jack!"  
"I will do no such thing. He made an unforgivable mistake and now he will die, but you must tell me. Only then I can protect you."  
"Please don't kill him. We need him!" I screamed.  
"And why would that be?" Alistair asked.  
"He has information about the Mandate, about the One."  
"Now that, that changes things a bit. If he is willing to give that information. He may live, but not as a free man."

I let out a soft sigh of relief. Jack will live, it's a start.

"We will start the interrogation in one hour," Alistair commanded. "Guards you can leave the room.

The guards left the room and Alistair followed.  
"I'll be there too," I said just before he left.  
Alistair turned around and said: "You're not welcome to join us. I do not want to involve you in such matter."  
"I already am," I said. Slowly I took out my contacts and revealed my violet eyes. I could clearly see the pure shock in Alistairs eyes.

"Is that the reason why Stellan and Miss Dauphin wanted to keep you here? And does that mean that Luc is the one?"

"I think Stellan might have found out about my eyes but he couldn't be sure. We don't think Luc is the one but that's what we were trying to figure out," I said.

"That's not good. We need to be quick. Get dressed. I will send a guard to your room in an hour. He will escort you to Jack's cell," Alistair said before he walked out of the room.

I took a quick shower and threw on some clothes. I collected the diaries we had found and waited for the guard.  
I heard a loud knock on the door. When I opened it, I didn't see the guard. I only saw Stellan. Everything went by very sudden. A handkerchief with some weird smelling chemical was put on my mouth and nose. I got very sleepy and everything went black.

When I woke up I was strapped down to a bed in a light room. When I looked at my body I saw I was wearing a white gown. I tried loosening up the ropes, but it didn't budge. I screamed for help. After two minutes Stellan strolled into the room.  
"Hey there _kuklachka_. Are you ready to get married?" Stellan said calmly and he locked the door behind him.  
"What are you talking about! What did you do and why? Let me go!" I screamed.  
"Well, since my suspicions about your violet eyes were right, the Dauphins would love to see you get married to Luc," he said while he was untying my ropes.  
"Thanks, but what makes you think Luc is the One?" I asked while rubbing my sore wrists.  
"Oh, we don't, but once Luc is married to you. No one will dare doubt us. Especially since the real One hasn't been found."  
"But Luc can't be the One! The One isn't part of one of the families!"  
"Why would I believe you? You know nothing about the Circle, the Mandate or the One."  
"Look at your tattoo," I said with confidence.  
"What about it?"  
"If you look closely there is a 13th party. The One that connects all twelve and the Mandate stalks about the One being superior to the twelve. Meaning one stronger than the twelve families, not the strongest member of one of the families."  
"And who should the 13th party be?" Stellan asked.  
"The Mandate states: The One who walks through fire and does not burn, the new Achilles. Stellan, this may sounds strange, but I think you might be the One," I said softly.  
Stellan started laughing. "You're joking. Right?"  
"No," I said with a straight face. "I can prove it. Take off your shirt. And your shoes and socks."  
"If you're trying to get me naked, there are easier ways to do it," Stellan quipped "and more appropriate times."  
"Will you stop joking around and just do it? I'm serious. Look at the marks on your back. They're not normal burn marks. They don't even really look like burns at all!"  
"That doesn't prove anything."  
"The Mandate line," I said. "Repeat it for me again."  
"The One, the new Achilles," he said.

Achilles.

"Achilles was invincible, except for a spot on the back of his heel. When struck there, he could be injured, or even killed. That's where we got the term _Achilles heel,_ because it was his only weak point! Take off your shoes, and your socks!"  
He took off his shoes and then removed his socks. I motioned for him to prop his feet up.  
"Look, at your right heel. There is a burn. Not a quasi-scar like the translucent ones on your back, but angry, puckered skin, scarred like every old burn I've ever seen!"  
"You do realize you sound like an insane person, right?"  
"You know it makes sense. Maybe I can convince you this way. Do you have a lighter?"

Stellan reached in his pocket and took out a red lighter. He handed it over to me.  
"Give me your hand," I said and he gave me his hand cautiously. I flicked the lighter on and held it underneath his hand. "Does is hurt?" I asked.  
"Not really, it tickles a little," he responded.  
I turned the lighter off and turned his hand. On his hand there were no marks, no redness or burns.  
"You see? The fire didn't hurt you. If I were to do that my hand would at least be red."  
"Even if I would believe you. How are you going to convince the Circle?"  
"We'll start with my father, Alistair Saxon. He may be the easiest to convince considering the circumstances."  
"Then let's go find him."  
"Let me go get changed out of the wedding dress first. It may draw quite a lot attention to us."

There was a bit of an awkward silence and then I realized. The Union.  
" _Kuklachka,_ the Union. Does this mean we should, um, get married?"

"Uhm, do we know whether the Union truly means marriage?"

" Well, the Circle always assumed that the Union means marriage but what else could it be?"

"We'll figure that out later, let's find my father and Jack."

I quickly changed into something more comfortable and less showy. Just as Stellan opened the door to check if it was safe for us to leave unnoticed, he got hit right in the face. My father and Jack appeared. I ran to Jack and gave him a hug. I asked them how they knew I was here and Alistair answered that Jack had a strong suspicion that the Dauphins would lock you up here, so he freed him to come find me.

In the meantime Stellan was being tied down to a chair.

"Wait, stop. He was helping me."  
"Helping you with what?" Alistair asked. "Get you married to Luc Dauphin?" he said while pointing to the white gown on the floor.

"No, he was helping me get away, but I, or we, have to tell you something. It's about the One. We think we know who it is."  
"Is it Luc?" Alistair asked.

"No, he is not. The Dauphins don't know it yet, but we think Stellan is the One."

What followed next was a hard roaring laugh.

"You're kidding, right?" Alistair asked.

I looked at him with a straight face. "No, I'm not. He truly is the One."  
"Okay, I'm going to need an explanation. What is going on?" Jack asked.

"Well, we already found out that the One is from a 13th party," I started.

"Wait, what? Why?" Alistair asked confused.

Slowly and clearly I explained our theory. The more I told, the more it started to make sense to Alistair and Jack. 

"But what about the Union?" Alistair asked. "Or better said, the marriage."  
"The Union might not be a marriage. It may be another way to connect the violet eyed girl and the One," Jack suggested. "A marriage is nothing else but a piece of paper saying they belong together, or a ring on a finger. A marriage doesn't fuse two people into one."  
"What exactly are you suggesting Jack?" I asked.

"The Union could be a child…" Jack said cautiously.  
"Are you insane!? I'm not letting a keeper impregnate my daughter!"

"But if it's the only way to fulfill the Mandate and stop the Order, we must do it. We don't have a choice." Stellan said, still tied down to chair.

I turned to him. I did not see that one coming. He wanted to make a child? Without knowing if that is what the Mandate means. And what about Jack? I can't just leave him. I really care for him.

"How can we be sure that's the way to fulfill the Mandate?" I asked. "I don't want to walk around pregnant if it's not even true. I don't want to walk around pregnant under any circumstances actually."

"We don't have any time. We have to try it. The Order is closer than ever. With your mom locked up, mr Emerson dead. We don't have another option. We can't risk to lose. There is too much at stake." Alistair, my _father_ , said.  
I looked at him with wide eyes. How could he say that, without any emotion or empathy? I looked at Jack. He seemed hurt.  
"Jack, what do you think?" I asked carefully.

"If it's the only way. You should do it. There's a lot at stake. A lot of innocent lives. The world counts on you. Even if they don't realize it…" he said, obviously heartbroken.  
Still I couldn't forgive him. With his words he betrayed me. He apparently didn't care as much about me as I did about him. And for that I wanted to hurt him too.  
"Okay, if there is no other way," I said. "Then we must do it."  
I walked out with tears in my eyes. I felt so betrayed, by my father and by Jack. I heard Jack call after me, but I kept on walking. I walked out of the building on to the streets of Paris. I roamed every corner and eventually I sat down on a bench. There, where the people could still see me, I broke down. I could feel everyone looking at me strangely, but I didn't care. The tears kept coming and it didn't feel like it was going to stop. I wish I wouldn't have met my family. Then my life would still be some sort of normal. Mr. Emerson would be alive, my mom would be free, I would be free.

"Avery?" I heard a soft voice say. I looked up and saw Jack's face. My face hardened and I wiped away my tears. I felt the sadness going away, it made place for anger.  
"How could you say that! How could you just let that happen?" I yelled. "I thought you cared about me."  
I saw pain on his face, but I ignored it. He hurt me. More than anyone else ever could.  
"I… I'm sorry," he said. "I do care about you. A lot. I didn't want to hurt you. I still don't, but we don't have a choice. Trust me, I do not want to see you pregnant with Stellan's child. Or anyone's child for that matter. I don't even want to see you with someone else. I only want to see you with me. I want you. I want us together, against everyone else."

My anger went away. I saw his pain in his eyes. He really meant it.  
"Promise me," I said. "Promise me you'll never hurt me again. Promise that whatever happens, you'll be with me. Till the end."  
"I promise," Jack answered.


End file.
